A Review of the Components, Outcomes, and Cultural Responsiveness of the Pyramidal Parent Training Literature

Abstract

Parental involvement is a cornerstone of success in supporting children with behavioral differences. However, having professionals provide intensive training to all parents in need of assistance is unattainable in many areas. The pyramidal parent training approach, where parents train other parents after first being trained by experts, supports generalization, collaboration, and makes training accessible in places where professional services are not available. A literature review was conducted to determine the scope of research on pyramidal parent training for families with children with ASD or another developmental disability. Eight relevant articles and one thesis were found. This research synthesized their training components, settings, foci, participants, designs, outcomes, social validity, and cultural responsiveness. Despite the many differences between the studies, two distinct forms of pyramidal parent training were identified: (1) Parent Training within a Family and (2) Parent Training among Families. The results show that regardless of the model, parent participants increased their skill acquisition to a similar degree whether trained by a professional or another parent. However, limited data were presented on the changes in the children’s behaviors and shortcomings were found in the areas of outcomes, generalization, maintenance, and cultural responsiveness.